East Carolina had singular success on Wednesday’s traditional National Signing Day, but the Pirates hope their one and only addition will be an important one.

More than a month removed from college football’s first-ever early signing period, during which ECU and third-year head coach Scottie Montgomery nabbed 19 new players, the Pirates added only defensive lineman Dorian Hardy on Wednesday, giving first-year defensive coordinator David Blackwell and new line coach Rod Wright a total of four signees in this class.

Hardy, a 6-foot-4, 246-pound defensive end prototype, was originally a Penn State commit out of New Jersey’s North Brunswick High School who signed his letter of intent with ECU mid-morning. He previously helped St. Joseph Regional High School to a pair of state championship appearances and one title before transferring to Paramus Catholic prior to his senior year at North Brunswick.

“Dorian’s personal interaction with our team and staff certainly reflected a clear ambition to flourish as a teammate and student,” Montgomery said in a statement. The coach was not available to the media.

The Pirates, 3-9 the last two seasons, also had their sights on Florida prep running back Malcolm Davidson out of Kissimmee’s Osceola High, but they were unable to break the player’s initial allegiance to Florida Atlantic. Davidson did not sign first thing in the morning as planned, but ultimately gave his nod to the Owls.

Although the Pirates still have some open slots, they have not yet signed a running back.

In addition to Hardy up front on defense, early signees Trey Love (Greensboro/Southeast Guilford), D’Angelo McKinnie (Kenansville/Southwest Onslow) and Chandler Medeiros (Statesville/South Iredell) could also make immediate impacts on a rebuilding line.

Although they lack backfield depth on offense at the moment after multiple transfers, the Pirates’ prize in this class was the state’s top quarterback prospect and a Pitt County native in Holton Ahlers (D.H. Conley), who also fielded offers from Georgia and Florida before signing with the Pirates.

Two much-needed offensive linemen came from Raleigh prep strongholds — Donovan Noel out of Millbrook and Peyton Winstead from Leesville Road. A pair of wide receivers signed early in Juwan Moody (Conway, S.C./Conway) and Andre Pegues (Raeford/Hoke County), along with tight end Johnny Bogle out of Nease High School in Pontre Vedra Beach, Fla.

A gutsy and wild comeback Wednesday afternoon for East Carolina at the American Athletic Conference baseball tournament in Clearwater, Fla., might have assured that the Pirates will be smiling Sunday night when the 16 NCAA regional hosts are announced.

The American Athletic Conference baseball tournament began Tuesday morning in Clearwater, Fla., with a high-scoring and slow-moving game that lasted nearly four hours and ended as an 8-4 win for No. 4 seed East Carolina over No. 5 UCF, giving the Pirates 40 wins for the season.

Bryant Packard was already set to take an East Carolina-record 32-game hit streak into the American Athletic Conference baseball tournament in Clearwater, Fla., and he added more momentum Monday when he was named AAC player of the year.

The NCAA honored the East Carolina women's golf and softball teams for their latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate, which ranked in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports.

Both teams earned a perfect score of 1,000 for the 2016-17 academic year. The most…